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    Wifi Issues/DMA allocation errors

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    • R
      ret_t
      last edited by

      Hi

      I've got a RCC-VE 2440 board and a WLE200NX Wifi card and I got major WiFi issues. I played around with it a bit and figured out the following:

      • When inserting the WiFi card in the PCI slot at the back of the board (the one with the SIM card), the card is recognized and I can configure it, but I can't see the network. I tried with different WiFi analyzers, there's nothing detected.

      • When inserting the WiFi card in the PCI slot at the front, the card is recognized, I can set the system up and Wifi works, however the connection is not stable: It drops about one in 3 to 5 pings. I tired with different antennas, no luck. I also  switched off all other radio transmitters in the house. I get a lot of "out errors" on the Interface status page. I googled a bit and came across the athstats command. This one shows a lot of " tx failed 'cuz dma buffer allocation failed" and " tx frames with no ack marked" errors. I assume this is not normal. Could this be a dodgy Wifi card?

      Thanks for any help.

      Reto

      Interface status:

      WIFI interface (opt1, ath0)
      Status up
      MAC address 04:f0:21:16:93:b3
      IPv4 address 192.168.1.2
      Subnet mask IPv4 255.255.255.0
      IPv6 Link Local fe80::6f0:21ff:fe16:93b3
      MTU 1500
      Media autoselect mode 11ng <hostap>Channel 8
      SSID TEST
      BSSID cc:3a:61:48:b5:5a
      Rate 21M
      RSSI 10.0
      In/out packets 2287/484811 (298 KB/67.54 MB)
      In/out packets (pass) 2287/484811 (298 KB/67.54 MB)
      In/out packets (block) 97/0 (18 KB/0 bytes)
      In/out errors 11/226576
      Collisions 0
      Bridge (bridge0) learning

      [2.2.4-RELEASE][admin@pfSense.localdomain]/root: athstats
      athstats: ioctl: ath0: Invalid argument
      athstats: ioctl: ath0: Invalid argument
      18672        data frames received
      270498      data frames transmit
      99          tx frames with an alternate rate
      2150        short on-chip tx retries
      10456        long on-chip tx retries
      2186        tx failed 'cuz too many retries
      424          mib overflow interrupts
      3            stuck beacon conditions
      MCS12        current transmit rate
      227711      tx failed 'cuz dma buffer allocation failed
      263409      tx frames with no ack marked
      1876        tx frames with short preamble
      1420        rx failed 'cuz of bad CRC
      1            rx failed 'cuz frame too short
      51313        beacons transmitted
      174          periodic calibrations
      -0/+0        TDMA slot adjust (usecs, smoothed)
      39          rssi of last ack
      37          avg recv rssi
      -96          rx noise floor
      5213        tx frames through raw api
      414          A-MPDU sub-frames received
      6            CRC errors for non-last A-MPDU subframes
      1734        Frames transmitted with HT Protection
      218885      cabq frames transmitted
      42639        cabq xmit overflowed beacon interval
      Antenna profile:
      [0] tx  267812 rx        5
      [1] tx        0 rx    18667</hostap>

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DerelictD
        Derelict LAYER 8 Netgate
        last edited by

        Get an AP.  A real AP. One with an ethernet port and a radio or two. Don't know when ESF will purge this insanity.

        tx failed 'cuz too many retries
        tx failed 'cuz dma buffer allocation failed

        Any wonder why it doeznt w3rk?

        Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
        A comprehensive network diagram is worth 10,000 words and 15 conference calls.
        DO NOT set a source address/port in a port forward or firewall rule unless you KNOW you need it!
        Do Not Chat For Help! NO_WAN_EGRESS(TM)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • R
          ret_t
          last edited by

          I was thinking of getting a "real AP" if there's no easy solution to this. Just wondering if anyone else has similar issues.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • ?
            Guest
            last edited by

            I was thinking of getting a "real AP" if there's no easy solution to this.

            Yep this could be a really good chance for you.

            Just wondering if anyone else has similar issues.

            For sure they have because pfSense and WLAN are not even the best "friends"!
            You get it working well or you could get in trouble for ever and don´t manage it.

            There are often three miniPCIe slots inside, likes in the PC Engines APU or SG-xxxx units and;

            • the slot with the SIM cards is often reserved for modems (bonded to the SIM slot)
            • the slot near the SATA port(s) is reserved to the mSATAs (shared Port)
            • the other free slot is mostly free for usage likes WiFi and other cards

            So you see choosing the right slot is not only a game, then more a "must be".

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • R
              ret_t
              last edited by

              Problem Solved:

              I got a new wifi card (it got a AR5B125 chip) and everything works perfect now, however it still doesn't work in the PCI slot with the SIM card (same issue as the original card, no errors, just no wifi singal).

              I guess the other card is defective.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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